Taubman spreading the wealth — again

On Thursday, less than a month after his enormous gift to the University of Michigan, Taubman pledged $11 million to Lawrence Technological University, also in Michigan.

When a reporter from the Detroit Free Press asked him what sparked the flurry of giving, the seasonal Palm Beach resident got right to the point.

“I’m 87 years old. Gotta give it away some time.”

The money is earmarked for an engineering, architecture and life sciences building that will bear his name.

The gift is two-tired: $1 million outright for planning and developing the A. Alfred Taubman Engineering, Architecture and Life Sciences Complex, and another $10 million challenge grant if the school can raise the same in donations over the next three years.

The new 100,000-square-foot building will connect to the school’s engineering
building to form the complex.

Taubman is an alumnus of Lawrence, where his transferred as a junior after first attending the University of Michigan.

Last year, he returned to the school – from which he never graduated – as an “affiliate professor of architecture and design.”

We’re guessing it’s a labor of love, because he sure as hell doesn’t need the money.

The shopping center developer was listed as number 512 on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s 1,210 billionaires, with an estimated $2.3 billion.

About the Author

Shannon Donnelly has spent decades covering the Palm Beach social scene with a gimlet eye, which is unsurprising considering her favorite drink is the vodka gimlet. And champagne. And the margarita. And the mojito. Her assignments for PBDN have put her aboard the HMS Brittania, in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot, at the Democratic and Republican conventions, toe-to-toe with Shaquille O’Neal at Donald Trump’s wedding reception, and freezing her butt off at the inauguration of George W. Bush. She has yet to be taken from an event in handcuffs. But, you never know…